dickbraswell

Word for Today:  January 8

Take what is rightly yours.

Many are caught up in the pressures of the present and cannot move out into the promises and provisions of our faith.  We see obstacles and hindrances.  We fear what might be and what could be.  We are worried by our assumptions.  We are confused by our conflicts.  As a result, we live in the stress of unbelief and the anxiety of the uncertain.

We need to KNOW some things.  We need to get out of hoping and praying and into assurance and expectation.    We need to transition from our dream to the fulfillment of it.   We need to possess our possessions.  We have been limited by religion and hindered by tradition.  We have been robbed by man’s doctrine and held back by the opinions of others.  We have been taught a lie and sold a false bill of goods.  We have lived in the natural and walked in the carnal and we have tasted death, defeat, disease, weakness, failure, limitation, disappointment and depression.

It is time for us to possess our possessions.  Jesus has bought them and paid for them.  On the Cross.  With His Blood.

They are all there and they are all ours… now. Today.

Take what Jesus Bought for you

Word for Today:  January 7

Go means go.

Go means to not stay.  Go means to not be still.  Go means to not retreat.  Go means to move.  God says go.  God is a Go God.  Not a stop God.  Not a stay God.  Not a retreat God, but a Go God.  Two-thirds of His name is GO.

Go means to do something.  Go means to start.  Go means to begin.  Go means get up.  Go means to move on.  Go means action.

You will have to have a special calling and a special revelation to stay because God has said “Go.”

If God says nothing, that does not mean stay.   He has already spoken and He has commanded us to GO.

He does not need to say it over and over again.

Let’s do this…

And he said unto them, Go…  Mark 16:15

 Ps. 34:19   Many are the afflictions  (hurts, troubles, adversities, sadnesses) of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth (rescues, recovers) him out of them all.

Tough times are common for Believers.  They are a New Birth Mark.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous…”

They are not evidence of God’s displeasure or the results of God’s Judgment.  They are weapons of the enemy to keep you from going on.

They have a life span.  They will “come to pass” They did not come to stay.  Tough times do not last… tough Believers do.

How we handle them determines how long they last.

They are devices of the devil and are his methods and strategies designed to destroy your faith.

The “many afflictions” that are with us simply identify us as “the righteous.”  If we are “the righteous” then we can expect “many afflictions.” And we are promised total deliverance from them ALL… not by what we do but by what God does.

• Afflictions will come.
• Trials will come.
• Temptations will come.
• Hard times will come.
• You will be emotionally hurt and wounded. 
• Grief will come.
• Impossibilities will come.

When they do, what will you do?

There will be times in your Christian Life when you wonder what is happening.  Things will get spooky.  Situations will get out of control.  The more you try to reel in the problem, the more tangled your line gets.  In the process, you will get tired and weary and impatient.  You will begin to wonder if it is really worth it all.  Discouragement will move in and satan will begin to make you tempting offers and alternatives.  Pursuing God is not an easy thing… The way into Life is Narrow and Straight and only a few will find it according to Jesus.  Sometimes, the way to get relief seems to be just to quit.  To forget it.  To retreat.  To back down.  It is always easier to cop out than to cope.   Situations and circumstances may develop that will press you beyond measure and push you “over the edge.”  How are believers to handle such situations?  What are we to do when we are pressed beyond measure?  Where can we go to get some “relief?”     What are our alternatives?

Here are your options.

1.  You can Quit. 

You can fold up.  You can collapse.  You can cave in.  You really can.  It is possible.  It is an option you have. 

Jesus wondered if his own disciples were going to quit.

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

It looked like they were going to do what everyone else was doing… they were going to leave.  Back out.  Go back.  Just because following Jesus became a challenge.  A hard thing.  A dividing thing.  A costly thing.  “Are you leaving, too?”  “Will you also go away?”  “Are you going to follow the crowd?”  I’ve wondered at times how many will quit. 

We have faced some formidable obstacles… some costly ones… some demanding ones.     We are nearing the Promised Land… we are close to entering in.  This is when the pressures build and the temptations come.  Will you quit?  Will you throw in the towel?  Will you take a dive?

To quit is  the easiest thing to do and it offers the least resistance.  Anybody can quit.  You can quit.  We can quit.  Many have and others will.  What about you?  Has satan “got your number?”  What will it take to make you quit?  How much more “can you stand?”  Are you at your breaking point?  Is quitting a real temptation for you this morning?  Some who are listening are right at the “giving up” and “quitting” stage.  I know it.  I feel it.  I sense it. 

I have learned over the years that the best way to overcome the temptation to quit is to do something radical.  Something weird.  Something unusual.  Something that is not natural.  “Why you can’t do that…. You’re too old!”   “You should not take the risk, you could be hurt, after all look how old you are.”  “Other people your age would never do that!”  To me “age” does not exist.  I relate to “time” not chronology or age.  And my time is NOW.  For my life and for my ministry.   

Now what will you do?  It’s decision time.  What you decide today will determine the outcome of the rest of your life.  Are you going to Quit or are you Going On?

2. You can compromise and get mad at God.

To compromise is to settle for something less than God’s Best. To be content and satisfied with less than God’s Will for you.  To compromise is to waver in your commitment to God.  It is to be half-hearted.  It is to start with a blast and then fizzle out.  It is to be mediocre.  It is to be lukewarm.  It is to be less than what God wants and less than what God demands. 

To compromise is to look for and settle for the easy way out.  The comfortable way out.  The way of “least resistance.”  To compromise is to refuse to come out of your “comfort zone.”  To compromise is to hit the snooze button when God says, “get up.”  To compromise is to make a deal with the devil.  To cut some slack with hell.  To listen to the voice that says:  “don’t take this God stuff too seriously… after all, it’s going to blow over… it will pass away… it won’t last.  Don’t get involved in all this emotional hype.  It can’t last…”

To compromise is to fail the test.  To compromise is to cheat.  To compromise is to consider self more than God. 

satan is probably saying to you right now…”if you will back off, I will back off!”  “If you will ease up, i will ease up…”  “If  you will slow down, i will slow down.”  You can back down and ease up and let off. 

You can stop and get stuck where you are.  You can be still and placid.  You can retreat and give up ground that you have fought for and won.  Compromise is an alternative.  A real alternative.  A tempting alternative.  But a disastrous alternative.  You can slip back and fall back and go back.    To compromise is to backslide.  To compromise is to stay put.  To compromise is to be comfortable.  To compromise is to be satisfied.  To compromise is to cool off.  To simmer down.  To change what you believe because of what is happening around you.

3.  You can feel sorry for yourself and give in to self-pity. 

You can become introverted… introspective.  You can be so caught up in your own problem that that is all you think about.    You become insensitive to the call of God and the Move of God.  You can become more concerned about YOU than you are concerned about OTHERS.  This is self-pity and it is a sin.  It is selfishness.  It is wrong and it is abusive.  Abusive to others.  Abusive to God.  Abusive to your testimony.  Abusive to your church.

Looking inward can make you compare yourself with others.  Then it can make you mad at others because they are not having it as hard as you are.   It will make you Jealous of others.  It can cause you to be hurt with others.  It will rob you of your joy and contribute to your misery.  It will consume you and cripple you if you do not deal with it. 

It can even make you mad with God.  You will begin to wonder about the wicked getting blessed and others getting blessed (that are not working as hard as you are or doing as much as you) and you can get mad with God.   Really mad.  Upset.  Disgusted.  Then you will get mean and ornery and hateful.  You will begin to feed on the sympathy that others give you.  Next comes the grumbling and the griping and the criticizing.    All because you got into self-pity.  It will shut off the love flow.  It will stifle your compassion.  It will make you miserable and everybody around you miserable.  It will affect your home, your job, your relationships.      

This is an option you have… but it is not a good one. 

4.  OR… you can turn your problems into Opportunities to trust God.  

You can wake up.  Shake yourself.   “Come to yourself…”  (Like the prodigal son)  You can suck it up, reach way down and decide to change things for the better.

You can make your “situations” a test track for the Word of God.  You can stand and sing and shout and refuse to accept defeat.  You can endure and count it all joy when you come into temptations and trials.  You can see every impossible situation as an opportunity to defeat the devil.   You do not have to quit.  You do not have to slow down.  You do not have to give up. You do not have to give in.  YOU CAN GO ON.  You can FINISH the RACE and COMPLETE the COURSE.  You can ACCOMPLISH what God created you to accomplish. 

You are CALLED.  You are COMMISSIONED.  You have a REASON and a PURPOSE for being born.  God is challenging you to “see the invisible and do the impossible.”  Knowing this, let’s declare with the Apostle Paul:

Phil 3: 13  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Ok… so you have decided not to quit.  You have decided not to compromise.  You have decided not to feel sorry for yourself.  You have decided to turn your problems into Opportunities to trust God… NOW:  HOW do you do it?  

FIRST…. Understand that you are not the only Believer facing a tough situation.  You are not by yourself.      The very fact that you are tempted to Quit is a good sign…  If nothing is happening to you then you are doing nothing for the Kingdom.  If the devil is not moving, then you are not moving.  If demons are not stirring, then you are not stirring.  If you are not in conflict with the powers of darkness, then you are headed the wrong way.

Ps. 34:19   Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

1Cor. 10:13   There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Our worst problems are like nothing compared with some of the problems others are facing… what if going to church was a life-threatening thing?  What if we lived in the midst of radical Christian-hating religious fanatics?  What if living for God carried any life-threatening risks?  Literally thousands are paying for their faith in other parts of the world. 

SECOND... never expect your Faith Walk to be easy.  You have not chosen an easy way of life.   To live by the Word is the most disciplined life a man or woman can know.  It demands making the flesh take a back seat.  It requires sacrifice, commitment, dedication, discipline.  Every devil in hell is poised to attack.  All the forces of darkness are set in array against you… demon powers have zeroed in on you because you have become a threat to them…. REJOICE and be EXCEEDINGLY GLAD.  SHOUT.  SING.  DANCE.  RUN.  LEAP.  

THIRD... Review your Salvation Contract with God.  If you will, you will see that there is no provision for quitting in it.  When you got saved, you made a Life Commitment to God with no strings attached.  There were no “what ifs” or “just in cases” or other conditional clauses in the Contract.  God did His part.  Jesus did His part.  The Holy Ghost did His part.  The Salvation Contract calls for you to do your part.  You are expected to ENDURE.  “He that endureth unto the end shall be saved…”  “Do not grow weary and faint in your minds…”  “Having done all, Stand!…”  “He that dwelleth in the Secret Place of the Most High shall abide under the Shadow of the Almighty…”

FOURTH... Remember your victories in the past.  See how God delivered you from the “hand of the lion and the hand of the bear…”  That is what David did as he faced the Uncircumcised Heathen Giant   Can you recall any times in the past when God came through for you Big Time?

REMEMBER YOUR PAST VICTORIES.  

FIFTH… You need to REPENT for even considering quitting.  To even think about going back.  It is an affront to God.  It slanders every promise in the Word of God.   

You do not have the RIGHT to quit.   We do not have the privilege of coping out.  You cannot legally cancel your commitment to God.  You are bound by your Promise.  If you have quit, REPENT, and come back.  If you are considering quitting REPENT and stop considering it.  Quitters are losers.  And losers are quitters.  

SIXTH… Rededicate your efforts to Keep on Keeping on.

Renew your mind so that you can think right in the middle of your tight situation.  If you allow your situation to dictate how you think and how you feel you will fail and you will quit.  If you allow your mind to be renewed by the Word of God so that you will think like God thinks then you will not quit.  God did not Quit.  Jesus did not Quit.  The Holy Ghost did not Quit.  The Word did not Quit.  Aren’t you glad they didn’t? 

Be a non-conformist.  Be a radical.  Be different.  Don’t yield to the pressures and allow them to make you back down.  Make your boldest confession in the midst of your darkest trial.  You do not have to be like everybody else.    Be as persistent as the 3 Hebrew Children:  “I will not bow I will not bend… go ahead and heat the furnace and throw us in… God will deliver us out of the fire and out of your hand, devil.”  Be as unwavering as David when he faced his giant (we all have our giants to face, amen?)

 “Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield: but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied… (your situations have defied the Lord God Most High.)

This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines

THIS DAY unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that ALL MAY KNOW there is a GOD IN ISRAEL…

for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands…”  (I Samuel 17:45-47) 

“Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude (your situations) for the battle is not your’s, but God’s…”  (II Chron. 20:15) 

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shall condemn…”  (Isa. 54:17)

FINALLY… Rejoice and praise God for the Victory even before it comes!!  Sing and shout.  Leap and dance.  Run and jump.  Rejoice and praise God right where you are before you see any signs of relief. 

Get you some banners and flags.  Paint you some posters.  Hang out some ribbons.  Advertise your victory before you get it.  Buy you a billboard!! Let God see that you are committed to winning and overcoming. 

You can never embarrass God with your Faith.  Persist.  Press through.  Stretch.  See your victory in the eyes of your spirit.  See it so real that you can shout about it.  Sincere, heart-felt praise always precedes victory!!  I command you right now in the Name of Jesus to REFUSE DEFEAT and to CHOOSE VICTORY. “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that both thou and thy seed may live…!  (Deut. 30:19)

Let’s take our oath of allegiance:  (Stand up and put your right hand on the Bible…)

“I solemnly promise to go on with God.  I promise to actively pursue God and His Divine Purpose for me.  I vow before heaven and earth and hell that I will never retreat.  I will never back up.  I will never slow up.  I will never give up.  I will protect, defend and support to the death  (if necessary) this End Time Move of God.  I will remain faithful to the end… so help me God.”  

Word for Today:  January 6

Believers are called to demonstrate satan’s defeat.

And having spoiled principalities and powers, He (Jesus) made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it… Col. 2:15

God is a God of DEMONSTRATION.  He is a GOD of POWER and MIGHT.  He operates in great success and energy.  And He lives inside every Believer.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world… 1Jn 4:4

satan is the illegitimate ruler of this world.  he is a defeated and humiliated enemy.  he is a liar and a cheat.  he is an accuser and an intimidator.  he barks but can’t bite because Jesus pulled his teeth.

We have been given Power over the devil and his demons (Mark 16:17).  satan gets his destructive  power from ignorant, naïve Believers.  The devil cannot do what we will not allow him do.

You and I (the Church) have been called into the kingdom to DEMONSTRATE satan’s DEFEAT.  You have been saved to make an OPEN SHOW of satan’s LIMITATIONS and to parade him before the world in an open display of his feeble weakness and utter failure.

Let the parade begin today

 2Kings 7: 3 ¶ And there were four leprous men at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?  4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.

These unfortunate lepers were left with three options.  

Moving is important.  You never get too old, to senile or too helpless to be going somewhere.  No excuse for staying put.    

Newton’s first law of motion states that:

“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion…” 

If you are sedate, stuck and still, you will tend to stay that way

Jesus said GO.  That’s moving.  He did not say Stay.  He said Go.   Mr 16:15  

In fact, this is the final command and order Jesus gave to us.  GO.

Collectively and personally.     Are you going to stay stuck where you are or are you determined to become the man God created you to be and GO to the place God has prepared for you to go?

The trouble is most of us have become comfortable and complacent.  We have all our ducks in a row.  Life has become an interstate highway and we are running on cruise control.   Most of what we do is cookie cutter stuff.  Over and over.  Again and again.  Same thing week in and week out, year in and year out.  And we are stuck.  Wallowing in monotony.    Locked in a life marked by Lackluster.   Mediocre.  Normal.  Status Quo.  Ordinary.  Do-nothing.  Go nowhere.  Comfortable, indistinguishable, complacent, motionless, and miserable.

It is time for a game changer.   Now.  Tonight.  Not tomorrow or next week or even this Sunday.  But NOW.

Actually, Life has no limits.  Your ministry has no limits.  Opportunity does not have an expiration date.    Every door is open and every light is green.  The time is right and God is waiting on you to seize the moment.  There will never again be a moment like this.  There will never again be a setting like this.  There will never again be a meeting like this.  If you don’t respond to this challenge, you will stay stuck, bound, shackled, restricted, controlled and constrained. 

• The time to break out and break the Limit Barrier is NOW.

RIGHT NOW.  THIS MOMENT.  IN THIS HOUSE and in THIS MEETING.    NOW is the accepted time.  

 Did you know it is never the “right time” as far as the devil is concerned?       

If you are only focused staying where you are, you will miss all the excitement of living life with the volume turned wide open.    God designed life and ministry to be exciting.  He is not the Author of dull.   We are talking about adventurous.  Fulfilling.  Meaningful.  Moving.  Accomplishing.  Achieving.  Attaining.  Winning and not losing.  Living and not doing.

How to have a happy life:

• Dream impossible dreams
• Stay up a creek in a leaking canoe without a paddle
• Climb out on a limb so far you can’t see the tree
• Stay at the end of you rope, tie a knot, and hold on for dear life
• Always live between a rock and a hard place
• Bust the lid off and break out of your box
• Be radical for God
• Stay on the very edge of total disaster
• Refuse to go with the flow (lest you end up in the septic tank)
• Resist the temptation to be normal
• Never give up and never quit never back down
• Sing.  Shout.  Dance.  Run.  Yell and scream at the devil.

OK.  Where does that put us?  We are either sitting at the gate waiting to die (remember the lepers?) or we are up and rushing toward the enemies camp and taking back what the devil has stolen.  We are settled in and hunkered down in the doldrums and dullness of a mundane life or we are on the prowl for better stuff.  We are either at rest or on the attack.  We are stuck or we are moving with God.

 Here are some things to consider when you want to break the Limit Barrier:

1.  Want to

Are you tired of the same old same old?  Do you long for a new beginning?  Are you looking for a way out and a way up?  How desperate are you for a change of direction in your life and ministry?  

You will never do the impossible and see the invisible unless you WANT TO.

God has a bright and exciting future for every one of us.  

Jer 29:11  I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (The Message)  What kind of future are you hoping for??

 That tells it like it is.  That tells it like God wants it to be.  That tells it like God has planned it for us.

Want to, then

2.  Decide to

You have already made hundreds of decisions today.  You make them all the time.  You are making some right now. 

• Where are you going to do next?  Nothing or something?
• What are you going to do during this year? 
• When are you going to start redeeming your dream?  Kicking the tires and lighting the fires?  Taking the plunge?  Moving out?  Stop piddling in the puddles and being satisfied with catching tadpoles instead of Big Fish?
• What are you going to do now?
• How do you intend living the rest of your life?  The rest of your ministry?

The quality of the life you are living right now is the result of decisions you have made in the past.  Your decisions have defined your life and your ministry.    Where you are going in the future will be determined by decisions you will make tonight.   In this service. 

Right now you have a challenge facing you.  You have a decision to make.  And you will make it one way or the other.  You can decide to stay like you are and where you are or you can decide to kick it up a notch, pick up your stuff and forge ahead.  Breaking the Limits comes out of a personal decision you and you alone can and will make.    And not deciding is really deciding.  No decision is really a decision.   No response is a response.

 Decide to, then

3.  Just do it

When you really want to, and then when you decide to, the only thing left is to just do it.  

God is a NOW God.  The Word is a NOW Word.  The moment is a NOW moment.  Today is NOW.  The time is NOW.  This message is a NOW message. 

2Co 6:2 ….The day you needed me, I was there to help. Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped.  (The Message)

You may ask, “How do I know that NOW is the time and that TODAY is the day for me to do it?”

You know it’s the right time when you “feel it.”  You know it’s the right time when you are being stirred deep in your Spirit.    You feel it now.  You are being stirred now.  You are being challenged now.  You are feeling Something deeper than you have ever felt.  You know that NOW is the TIME.  The Holy Ghost is all over you.  God is telling you “I have made MY MOVE, now it’s YOUR MOVE.  We are surrounded with open doors and green lights.   We have, right now, unlimited opportunities all around us.  

Have you considered the scope of the opportunities that are surrounding us?  Just see what God has wrought in our lifetime and see the advantages and prospects that are present NOW.   All the exotic inventions that are emerging in our present day.  All of which God has made possible as ways and means of preaching the Gospel and Going to the Nations. 

The Word tells us that in the last days, “Knowledge will be increased…”

Dan 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

My mind and imagination are stretched to the max to consider just what may be coming next to make our lives more efficient in reaching the World with the Word.

“What’s that in your hand?”   Nothing but a stick.  A worthless walking stick.  It’s all Moses had.  God told Moses to take the little insignificant thing he had and to USE IT.

What’s in your hand?  Nothing.  Not much.  God says begin with what you have and I’ll turn it into what you need. 

Just do it.

Just do it, then

4. Trust GOD

GOD will see you to your destination.  

God has been my encouragement and support for over a half-century of ministry in my life.  When I did not know what to do or where to go or how to minister, HE always had the answer for me.  The foundation of our ministry has been the initiative to take the whole Word to the whole World.  It was prophesied over 53 years ago that the small Mobile congregation that composed Lott Road Baptist Church, eight miles from Eight Mile, was commissioned by the Holy Spirit to take the Word to the World.    

• GOD took us safely and successfully through the Charismatic Renewal. 
• GOD delivered us from demonic attacks
• GOD took us into new depths of understanding and revelation
• GOD showed us Who HE is, what kind of God He is and What His Will for us is.
• GOD revealed the immeasurable scope of the Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ
• GOD taught us Who the Holy Spirit is and How to be Baptized in His fullness
• GOD opened the door to Miracle-Working Power
• GOD protected us and led us safely through every attack throughout our life-long ministry
• GOD fed us, matured us, inspired us, and sent us
• GOD is working right now as you read this message, touching the core of your soul

And HE will sustain you in your decision to move out and move on.   What do you need to get started?   ONLY GOD. HE is enough and will be more than enough. 

Trust GOD, then

5.  Never Quit

• We experienced a catastrophic church split…. Two thirds of the church left.  (Two thirds of 150 leaves 50)  But we did not quit.
• We were kicked out of our denomination and thrown under the bus.  But we did not quit.
• We got ripped off by crooked contactors and were left deep in debt.  But we did not quit.
• We were robbed by criminally convicted bankers.   But we did not quit.
• We were threatened with foreclosure by those to whom we were in debt.    But we did not quit.
• We got half through building Faith Academy and ran out of money.  But we did not quit.
• We faced imminent financial failure with a 4.5 million dollar debt we could not pay.  But we did not quit.
• And  several years ago, I signed the check that paid the last bill and set this ministry free of all debt…

If there is any lesson I have learned and learned well, it is the fact that we never quit.  No matter what.  No matter who.  No matter when.

 Now, just where does this leave us right now?

What are we going to do?

Go back?

Stay stuck?

Move into unlimited ministry?

DO not wait too long.  Do not hold on where you are too long.  The opportunity is NOW.  This YEAR.  TODAY.   

Break the LIMIT and SOAR through 2022!! 

Word for Today:  January 5

What we desire, we acquire.

Our life is governed and controlled by what we value.  Those things we value most occupy most of our time and energy.  Those things we value least are things that are generally ignored.  I am assuming that everyone has placed a very high value on Knowing God.  Notice the extremes in the Scriptures regarding things we value (love) and things we devalue (don’t care about).

Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…   Phil 3:8

When Paul explained his Value System, he said compared to Knowing Christ, everything else he counted as loss and considered them nothing more than dung (nice word for a commonly used expletive).  Jesus touched on the vast chasm between Loving God and even loving family members…

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Lu 14:26

Compared to the Value placed on Loving God, the value placed on loving family members is almost off the page in the opposite direction.  Knowing God (really “knowing” in an intimate, intense and complete way) is the key to receiving and releasing the Gifts and Callings that have been given to us.

Knowing God is the way to receive “all things that pertain to life and godliness…”

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge (epignosis: knowing with understanding) of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 2Pe 1:3 

He made known his ways (methods) unto Moses, his acts (deeds) unto the children of Israel.  Ps 103:7

Understanding the “Ways” of God comes from Knowing God.

Understanding the “Acts” of God comes from Knowing About God.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation (a disclosure of Truth) in the knowledge (epignosis: knowing with understanding) of him. Eph 1:17

 John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land

“If you have a desire (a passion for something) and then do what I tell you to do, you will eat the good of the land (receive the best earth has to offer)” (my paraphrase)

There are some Bible principles I have learned over the years that will guarantee results.  They are based on the Integrity of God and o the guarantee that His Word will Work any time, every time and all the time.  Some things we need to get fixed in our minds:

• God wants you to live.  Jesus Himself tells us that He has come in order that we might have LIFE (Zoe) and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10) ( superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon more excellent, more remarkable)
• He has made provision for you to live. God has already given us all things that pertain to life (Zoe) and Godliness. (free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, boldness, assurance)  2 Per 1: 3  According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
• Real living is not acquired by a better performance.  God is not impressed by our performance.  He is impressed by our believing.  Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.  Religion has taught us that we obtain a better life by performing better deeds.  God tells us we obtain a better life by believing and acting on His Word
• He has designed this encounter to send you into the very best days of your life

What is it that will take us into a new realm of exciting, expectant, and effervescent living?  If God wants me to have abundant life and if He has provided it for me then how do I get there?  Several suggestions:

DREAM

Prov 29:18 Where there is no vision, (dream) the people perish:

 This could be translated “where there is no divine expectation or dream in your heart, you will not succeed.”

If you do not dream, your dreams cannot come to pass.  Now, what are your greatest desires for your life at this point in time?  Do you have a dream?  Are you in an expectant mode for God to do something in your life?  What are you believing for?  What have you been praying for?  If your dream is not in the realm of the impossible it is not in the realm of a divine expectation.  If it is possible, it is not a dream.  If it is reasonable, it is not a dream.  If it is affordable, it is not a dream.  God wants you and me to dream impossible dreams and expect impossible manifestations.  Dream a dream that is greater than your ability and greater than you resources.  Dream things that are so big they stagger your imagination.  Actually, your dream should be as Big as God. 

What do you desire the most?  What have you been expecting?  Nothing?  Or something?  Things to stay the same or for things to change for the better?  For my life to remain mundane or for my dreams to be fulfilled? 

Dream a dream.  See it fulfilled with your Faith Eyes.  Feel it stirring in your spirit.  Nurture it, meditate on it, imagine it, and believe that it is on the way.

WRITE YOUR DREAM DOWN

Hab 2:2  And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.  (write it down, record it that it may come to pass speedily)

For many years at our church out on Lott Road, we celebrated an annual New Year’s Miracle Service Sunday.  It was a special service on the first Sunday of the New Year where we actually wrote down the dreams we had for the coming year.  I would prepare special hand-out sheets with faith building scriptures on them and a special space on each sheet for folks to write down what their dreams were for the next year.  At a special time during the service, each person would write their dreams down (write the vision) and then we would all have a time of prayer where we would present our dreams to God.  Then at the beginning of the next New Year, we would bring our dream sheets back to church and testify of the miracles God had given us and the dreams that had come true.

I challenge you to write the vision down.  Write, in detail, what your dream is and make a record of it.  Make it plain.  Make it specific.  Include the smallest details.  You know, if you do not care enough to take the time and write your dream down, why should you expect God to take time to bring it to pass?  Why do you suppose the prophet was told to “write the vision and make it plain?”  It was so that the dreamer could keep the vision and the dream before his eyes all the time.

(Illustration of how God brought our Dream House off the paper and made it real)

BELIEVE

Heb 11:

24  By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

Moses refused to be called what others were calling him.  He refused to be what or who others were saying he was.  He chose to believe the Truth instead of the Lie.

25  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

26  Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Moses fixed his gaze on the coming pay day and ignored the impossibilities of his present situation.

27  By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Moses believed that his dream would come true.  We need to believe that our dream will manifest.  Believing that it will is having faith that it will.  Have faith that it will.  Faith is believing.  Faith is expecting.  Faith is anticipation that it will. And faith is calling it as though it already is. Faith sees it as actual and factual.  Faith is the Real Substance (your dream) of what you are believing for.  Know that what God has promised, God will perform.  Don’t get discouraged.  Or frustrated. Or distraught because of the magnitude of your dream.  God is Supernatural and He expects the supernatural from us.  So, right now SEE your dream with your eyes of faith.  Really believe that it will be and that it is in the making. 

Years ago after God gave me the revelation of faith, we needed a larger auditorium out on Lott Road.  I saw it by faith.  It saw it completed and filled with folks hungering for more God.  “Did you see our new building when you drove up this morning?  Did you see our new parking lot?”  This became a regular part of our Sunday Morning announcements.  Within a year what we saw we had.  This became a powerful confession we learned to make over the years. “Did you see our new school complex?”  “Did you see the check that paid off the mortgage and made this ministry debt free?”

What you (and I) see is what you (and I) get. 

Mark 4:24  And he said unto them, Take heed (blepo: to see) what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.

BEGIN

Start right where you are.  Start with what you have.  Stop waiting.  Don’t put it off any longer.  Begin.  When you begin with what you have, God will give you what you need.  A dream without action is nothing more than your imagination.

You will never get “there” unless you start.  You will never start if you wait until you get what you need.  You will never get what you need until you begin with what you have.  When you begin with what you have God will move heaven and earth to get you what you need.

If you will begin today right where you are using only what you have, God will plunder His Storehouse and send you every supply to meet your all your need.   (Phil 4:19)  I can personally testify to that.

In 1956 shortly after I entered the ministry, I wanted a church to pastor.  I had no contacts.  I had not completed my education.  I had no opportunities.  So I decided to begin with what I had.  I had a burning desire to preach.  I had a fire in my bones.  I needed an “outlet” for what God had planted in me.  So I became a street preacher.  Lots of street corners.  Lots of passing cars.  Lots of pedestrians.  So I asked the local Methodist Church if I could have the loudspeakers that were mounted on the roof of their church which they were not using.  They gave them to me.  I climbed up on the roof, took them down and mounted them on the roof of my ’55 Ford.  Hooked them up to a microphone, when to downtown Richton Mississippi, found a place, parked my car, got out with my mic, and began to preach.  Within a month, I was called to a small country church in Perry County where I pastored while I attended William Carey College. 

Exodus 4:1-2

¶  And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

2  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. 

Moses wanted to wait until he had what he thought he needed.  God showed him he already had what he needed…. He only needed to USE IT.

Why are you waiting?  What are you waiting for?  What do you have “in your hand?”  Then, you already have everything you need.  You may not have it all but you have the seed for your need.  You have it and you need to do something with it.  Begin.  Start.  Don’t wait.  Forget the excuses.  Remember the devil’s biggest trick is to make you wait.  “Waiting on God” is really a cop out because the Word says “Now is the accepted time… today is the day!”  But you say “the Bible tells us to wait on the Lord…?  That’s right.  We are to wait on the Lord just like the waiter waits on us in the restaurant.  To “wait” on God is to be present, accounted for and ready to do His pleasure. 

PERSIST… refuse to quit

Never quit.  Never stop.  Never ease up.  Never back up.  Never let up.  Never slow down.  Forget about the “greener grass” thing.  Press on.  Push.  Let the devil know your intentions.

The greatest temptation in the Christian Walk or in Christian ministry is to quit.  Human nature is so fixed to make it easier to quit than it is to keep on.  Most flesh shies away from conflict and confrontation.  However, if you are not having constant confrontation with the devil, you are probably not doing very much for God.  The dynamics of the Christian life are trials, temptations, difficulties, challenges, confrontations, and spiritual warfare.  All of these are designed and orchestrated by our enemy to make us get tired.  Weary. Worn out. Frustrated. Discouraged and ultimately, to just quit.

Regardless of how you feel or how you think or what others are telling you, it is extremely important for us to force our flesh to press on.  To discipline our mind to think positively and to determine, at all costs, to keep on.

Early on, I discovered that one way to encourage myself was to talk to the devil first thing every morning.  “Devil, did you notice that I did not quit yesterday?  Do you know that I’m not going to quit today?  And, guess what… I’m not going to quit tomorrow.”

Persist.  Keep on keeping on.  Never give in, give up or back down.  Press through.

PREPARE

Get ready for your Dream Life.  Prepare for your answer.   Prepare for the fulfillment of your dream and the completion of your call.  Get ready for your miracle. 

Cessna….

Take a lesson from the farmer.  He prepares for the harvest before harvest time comes.  He planted the seed.  He watered the crop.  He chopped out the weeds.  He fixed up the barn.  And he expected his harvest to come in at a specific time.  Get ready NOW to receive that for which you have been believing. 

Dig some ditches and borrow some pots (2 Kings 3 and 4).

Your drought is coming to an end.  Your needs are going to be met.  Your dream is going to become reality. 

Today is the first day of the Best Life you are going to have.

Just you wait and see.

• DREAM
• BELIEVE
• BEGIN
• PERSIST
• PREPARE

Go from where you are to where God wants you

Word for Today:  January 4

The dynamics of our contemporary mode of living tend to keep us ignorant of the Move of God.

Most are looking everywhere and seeing everything but God and what He is doing.  If we talk about the New Thing, the Move of God and the coming End Time Harvest most will think we are in too deep.  Too far.  Too much.  Too radical.  Too spiritual.  Too serious.  Too wild.

But don’t be surprised… they were acting the same way in Noah’s Day.  And Jesus said:

But as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man…  Luke 17:26

For 120 years they rejected Noah’s radical preaching.  They laughed at his “foolish” construction project. They ignored his warnings.  They refused to listen and heed.  They waited and debated.  They considered but refused to consent.

Then IT happened.  And when it did it was too late for them.  They got left out. They got shut out.  They got locked out of safety, security and life.  They were lost.  Forever.  Eternally.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.   Mt 24:44